Children Need Fats
to be Healthy
By Jane Sheppard
Pay little attention to the pervasive hype
about low-fat diets. Children need fats in
their diets to be healthy. Healthy fats supply
nutrients that are essential for growth and
are necessary for energy as well as the absorption
and metabolism of some nutrients. Fats are
vitally important to the brain, which is 70
percent fat. They are used for building the
membranes around every cell in the body and
also play a role in the formation of hormones.
Cold-pressed olive and flaxseed oils, fish
oils, seeds, nuts, eggs, avocados, grass-fed
meats, and butter and whole, raw milk from
grass-fed cows are good fat-containing foods.
When you limit your child's fat intake, you
may be depriving him or her of essential nutrients.
Many low-fat diets are low in zinc and vitamin
E. Zinc is essential to growth and proper
functioning of the immune system, and vitamin
E is an important antioxidant that can help
protect against disease. Furthermore, when
children are eating a low-fat diet, they typically
eat more high sugar and starch carbohydrates,
which can lead to blood sugar problems and
decreased immunity.
The caution here is to make sure your children
get the right fats and not the bad ones. The
wrong types of fats - hydrogenated oils, high
in trans fatty acids - can predispose a child
to recurrent infections, inflammatory conditions,
and learning disorders. Hydrogenated oils,
such as margarine, are the prime culprits
in heart disease and cancer. Hydrogenation
is a manufacturing process that converts unsaturated
fats into saturated fats to prolong shelf
life. Read the labels of foods you buy in
the grocery store. It's difficult to find
anything that does not contain these unhealthy
fats. Hydrogenated or partially hydrogenated
vegetable oils are found in margarine, shortening,
commercial baked goods, fried chicken nuggets,
fish sticks, french fries, and most other
processed foods. Hydrogenation alters the
fatty acids in the oil, which creates artificial
fatty acids. It makes perfectly good oils
act as poison to the body by interfering with
the metabolism of essential fatty acids. Leo
Galland, MD, author of Superimmunity for Kids,
What to Feed Your Kids to Keep Them Healthy
Now - and Prevent Disease in Their Future
(Dell 1988) states "These artificial
fatty acids are not only unnatural and unnecessary,
they can have a disastrous effect on your
child's body's ability to use EFAs."
Essential fatty acids (EFAs - the good fats)
are essential to normal immune and nervous
system function. You cannot have a healthy
immune system or brain without these fats.
EFAs are called essential because we need
them to be healthy and our bodies can't make
them. They must be supplied by the diet. There
are numerous health problems associated with
EFA deficiencies. These include susceptibility
to infections, arthritis-like conditions,
asthma, eczema, hair loss, liver or kidney
degeneration, growth retardation and vision
or learning problems.
There are two kinds of EFAs: omega-6 is found
in evening primrose oil, borage oil, black
currant oil, safflower, sunflower, corn, soybean,
and cottonseed oils. The other is omega-3.
Flaxseeds and cod-liver oil are rich in omega-3
EFAs. Walnuts also contain significant amounts,
as well as freshly ground wheat germ. Certain
fish, including salmon, tuna, mackerel, bluefish,
sardines and herring, are rich in omega-3
EFAs. Dried beans, such as great northern,
kidney, navy and soybeans, contain small amounts
of both omega-6 and omega-3 EFAs.
The balance of omega-3 to omega-6 EFAs is
important. An excess of omega-6 fats (polyunsaturated,
commercial vegetable oils) can create a fatty
acid imbalance that can contribute to many
health problems, including inflammation, depressed
immune system function, cancer, heart disease,
liver damage, learning disabilities, and weight
gain. The key is to balance small amounts
of these oils with the omega-3 fatty acids
that most children are deficient in. Breastmilk
contains the perfect balance of essential
fatty acids, as long as the mother is getting
enough essential fats in her diet.
Providing EFAs to Your Children
Your child's need for EFAs depends on what
else he or she is eating. If your child is
eating a lot of hydrogenated oils or trans
fatty acids (fast foods, commercial cakes,
cookies, crackers, and other junk foods) or
doesn't get enough of certain essential vitamins
and minerals, her body may not be able to
make proper use of the EFAs she is getting.
EFAs must be metabolized effectively in order
for the body to reap their benefits. It's
not enough to just get adequate EFAs. Certain
co-factor vitamins and minerals must also
be present. Vitamins B-6, A, C, E, magnesium,
zinc, copper, and selenium must be there to
make the metabolism of EFAs possible.
Sometimes it's hard to get your children
to eat enough EFA-containing foods. Cod-liver
oil is a practical ways to supply EFAs to
children. Years ago, mothers gave their children
a small daily dose of cod-liver oil to prevent
disease. This was a good immune building practice.
Cod-liver oil is a good source of omega 3
EFAs with the added benefits of fat-soluble
vitamins A and D. Cod-liver oil is rich in
a fatty acid called eicosapentaenoic acid
(EPA), which is very important for the proper
function of the brain and nervous system.
Defatted cod-liver oil removes the nutritional
value so make sure it contains the fat.
According to Randall Neustaedter, OMD, author
of Child Health Guide: Holistic Pediatrics
for Parents, "the best sources of
omega-3 fats are cod liver oil (1 tspn per
50 lbs of body weight), fish oil capsules
(containing 250 mg of DHA for children over
7 years old), and DHA (docosahexaenoic acid)
supplements derived from algae (Neuromins)."
He also mentions that there is a problem with
flax seed oil for omega-3 supplementation.
"Flax seeds contains the omega-3 fatty
acid ALA that must be converted to DHA by
an enzyme so that the body can incorporate
it into cells. The problem is that children
make this enzyme only in small amounts, if
at all. If they do not have the enzyme they
will not benefit from the omega-3 fat in flax
seeds."
Excerpted from Super
Healthy Kids: Strengthening Your Child's Resistance
to Disease. Your Children Can Have
Vibrant Health and Vitality! No More Chronic
Infections, Allergies, or Sickly Kids! Click
here
to download this e-book.
|
|
Use
the information provided on this site as an
educational resource for determining your
options and making your own informed choices.
It is not intended as medical advice or to
diagnose, prescribe, or treat any specific
illness.